Tōdō Takatora

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In this Japanese name, the family name is Tōdō.

First Lord of Imabari
Tōdō Takatora
Tōdō Takatora
In office 1600 – 1608
Preceded by	none
Succeeded by	Matsudaira Sadafusa
First Lord of Tsu
In office 1608 – 1630
Preceded by	none
Succeeded by	Tōdō Takatsugu

Born	February 16, 1556(1556-02-16) Tōdō Village, Ōmi Province, Japan
Died	November 9, 1630 (aged 74) Edo, Japan
Nationality	Japanese

Tōdō Takatora (藤堂高虎, Tōdō Takatora^?) (February 16, 1556- November 9, 1630) was a Japanese daimyo of the Azuchi-Momoyama period through Edo period. He rose from relatively humble origins as an ashigaru (a foot soldier) to become a daimyo. During his lifetime he changed his feudal master seven times and worked for ten people, but in the end he rendered loyalty to Tokugawa Ieyasu, who became his last master.^[1]^[2]

Statue of Tōdō Takatora at Imabari Castle.

He was promoted rapidly under Hashiba Hidenaga, the younger brother of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and he participated in the invasions of Korea as a commander of Toyotomi's fleet. His fiefdom at that time was Iyo-Uwajima. During the Edo period, the wealth of each fiefdom was measured as a volume of rice production in koku. Iyo-Uwajima was assessed at 70,000 koku.^[1]^[2]

At the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, although he was one of Toyotomi's main generals, he sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu. After war he was given a larger fiefdom, Iyo-Imabari, assessed at 200,000 koku. Later in life he was made lord of Tsu (with landholdings in Iga and Ise), a domain of 320,000 koku.

Todo Takatora is also famous for excelling in castle design. He is said to have involved in building as much as twenty castles.^[1]^[2]

[edit] Tōdō in video games

Tōdō appears as a playable general who specializes in cannon barrage in the video game Kessen.

Preceded by none	First Lord of Imabari 1600-1608	Succeeded by Matsudaira Sadafusa
Preceded by none	First Lord of Tsu 1608-1630	Succeeded by Tōdō Takatsugu